Jack Straw dropped measures to overhaul the law on prostitution yesterday to ensure that a Bill that prevents prison officers from striking is law by May.

It means that the Government has also abandoned a plan to scrap the term “common prostitute” from the statute book — 184 years after it was first used in the Vagrancy Act 1824.

Mr Straw, the Justice Secretary, is also giving up a measure that would have barred the Court of Appeal from quashing a conviction on a technicality when there was no reasonable doubt about a person’s guilt.

He withdrew the clauses to ensure that the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, which reimposes a ban on prison officers going on strike, is passed by May 8.

The deadline is crucial because the Prison Officers’ Association withdraws from a voluntary no-strike agreement on that day. If the union were to take strike action it would cause chaos in the overcrowded jails of England and Wales.

A Ministry of Justice statement said: “We are taking this action to ensure that legal protection is in place in the event of further industrial action destabilising the prison estate. We must take this action in order to meet our duty to protect the public.

“Public safety is of primary importance to us and we will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that it is not compromised or undermined. The existing agreement with the Prison Officers’ Association will come to an end on May 8, 2008.”

The statement said that after discussion with other parties, the clauses on prostitution and criminal appeals were being withdrawn to ensure that the Bill received Royal Assent by May 8.

The clauses in the Bill that the Government dropped would have meant that women who were persistently found loitering for prostitution would be given a rehabilitation order. Offenders would have had to attend at least three meetings of a rehabilitation course or face arrest and detention for up to 72 hours before being brought before a court.

The compulsory rehabilitation was to apply to those who were convicted of loitering or soliciting for the purpose of prostitution and would have been an alternative to a fine, which is widely seen as counter-productive because it forces prostitutes back on to the street to earn money to pay it.

The clause to remove the term “common prostitute” from the statute book came after a consultation that showed the phrase was regarded as stigmatising and offensive.

John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes & Harlington, welcomed the move. He said: “I hope it signals a future approach towards prostitution underlined by welfare measures rather than criminalisation, putting the needs and safety of prostitutes above the desire for moral condemnation.”

Ministers are conducting a consultation on a proposal for mini-brothels that would allow two women and a maid to operate legally from premises.

Sex for sale

— An estimated 25,000 women work in brothels in Britain

— Paying for sex is not illegal in Britain, although many of the activities associated with it, including kerb-crawling and soliciting, are criminal offences

— Research suggests that a very high proportion of prostitutes are drug users — 95 per cent are drug addicts according to one study, while another suggested that 87 per cent use heroin

— Under the provisions of the Nationality, Asylum and Immigration Act, 2002, a new offence of “trafficking a person for the purpose of controlling him or her in prostitution” was introduced with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison

Source: Foreign Office, Times Database

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